"Distinguishing Live and Dead Bacteria: Epiphany of Raman Spectroscopy"

Dr. Dmitri VoronineTexas A&M and Baylor

ABSTRACT

Raman spectroscopy has been recently used for identifying and studying different kinds of bacteria. We describe means for distinguishing spectroscopically between live and dead bacteria in water and PBS solutions. Our data show that the relative intensity of E. coli Raman bands change when the bacteria are inactivated by UV irradiation. Mechanisms responsible for the inactivation of the bacteria will be discussed.